THE SERMON AT BENARAS

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

Question 1
When her son dies, Kisa Gotami goes from house to house. What does she
ask for ? Does she get it ? Why not ?
Answer:
Kisa Gotami was in grief and agony when her only son died. She carried her son’s
dead body in her arms and went from one house to another asking for medicine that
could cure the child. She does not get it because there is none to cure the dead. It is
so because death is incurable.

Question 2.
Kisa Gotami again goes from house to house after she speaks with the
Buddha. What does she ask for, the second time around ? Does she get it ?
Why not ?
Answer:
She asks for a handful of mustard seed. Buddha tells her that he will cure her dead
son if he gets a handful of mustard seed, but It must be brought from a house where
death hasn’t occurred. She does not get it because she can’t find such a house
where death has not occurred.

Question 3.
What does Kisa Gotami understand the second time that she failed to
understand the first time? Was this what Buddha wanted her to understand?
Answer:
After failing to procure a handful of mustard seeds from a house where death had
never knocked at the door, she sat down by the roadside feeling helpless. She saw
the lights of the city that flickered and were extinguished. At last, it was darkness
everywhere.
She realised that death was common to all and she was being selfish in her grief.
Yes, this is what Buddha wanted her to understand, that everyone who is born has to
die one day.

Question 4.
Question 4.
Why do you think Kisa Gotami understood this only the second time? In what way
did Buddha change her understanding?
Answer:
Earlier, she could see only her grief. When she went from door to door the second
time, she understood that everyone was dealing the with the loss of a beloved one.
There was not a single house in the town, where death had not taken a father, a
mother, a sister, a brother, son or a daughter. Everyone, at some point or the other,
have experienced the death of their loved ones. Gautama Buddha helped her to
understand all this, as he told her to bring a handful of mustard seeds from a house
where death had never knocked at the door. This way she got aware that death is
common to all human beings.
Question 5.
How do you usually understand the idea of‘selfishness’ ? Do you agree with
Kisa Gotami that she was being ‘selfish in her grief ’ ?
Answer:
A selfish person is one who extremely thinks about self . In this story, Kisa Gotami
was also is selfish in her grief. She now understands that death is common to all.
One who is born has to die one day. One should not grieve over a thing that is
common to all. Although we find it difficult to accept the death of our loved ones,
death is inevitable.